Mr Ahmed Shahroot, Specialist Marketing Manager of Smart Dubai Project has urged Nigeria to embrace open data policy at the just concluded Gulf Information Technology Exhibition week (GITEX).
He made this call when Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), led the Nigerian delegation on a tour to the Smart Dubai Hall at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition week.
Mr Shahroot, while engaging the Nigerian delegates on the concept of Dubai’s Decision Support System, called on the country to embrace an Open Data Policy that will allow for the citizens’ contribution in the decision making process.
It would be recalled, that the Federal Government of Nigeria plan to enforce the adoption of open data policy to drive innovation, investment and economic growth in the country.
Barr.Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications indicated the policy thrust recently in Abuja.
According to the Minister, governments want to adopt open data policy to reduce the cost of governance and improve service delivery in Nigeria.
The open data initiative is a consultative and inclusive process hoped to open up high value datasets from across government ministries to Nigerian citizens, businesses and the rest of the world for free.
According to the Minister, “the Ministry of Communication in conjunction with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will be ensuring all tiers of government in Nigeria consider the adoption of the open data policy as a means of creating jobs making data available for policy formulation and decision making.”